“Breanne Mc Ivor is a talented Trinidadian author and regional literary prize-winner making her international debut.”
—Oprah Daily
FAYOLA K J FRASER
Her humble and confident presence fills the room, and Breanne McIvor lights up when asked about her recently launched debut novel, “The God of Good Looks.” Revered by Publishers Weekly as a “pitch-perfect narrative of power imbalances,” McIvor’s novel, launched in May, has already been internationally acclaimed on Oprah Daily’s “The Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2023,” and Good Housekeeping’s “The 12 New Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List.”
McIvor’s previously published collection of short stories “Where There Are Monsters” (2019) was also the recipient of excellent reviews and was described as a deep dive into Trinidad folk narratives that mirrored contemporary versions of our deep-seated troubles. Over the past few years, she has emerged as a bold voice in Caribbean fiction, fulfilling her passion for telling “our stories.”
“I come from a long line of female storytellers,” McIvor says, “my mother, my grandmother and aunt are all storytellers.” Oral tradition is one of the most powerful tools of indigenous documentation of information and this means that many Caribbean people identify with older family members telling stories of an era past. McIvor said that her mother even recalled that as a child, she would be following her around and telling her story after story. She has now turned that passion for storytelling into her career as a full-time writer. Recalling her days in secondary school at St Joseph’s Convent, Port-of-Spain, she said that in her yearbook, published when she was a teenager, she has her future profession as “Novelist/Poet,” and jokingly claimed, “Well at least I’m 50% there!”
An open scholarship winner, McIvor pursued her undergraduate and masters’ degrees in the UK at the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh, respectively. In an effort to perform her duty service to the country, she returned home and was a teacher for five years. Following that, she took an unlikely turn into the corporate realm, working at the American Chamber of Commerce and then Massy Technologies. Describing herself as “risk averse,” McIvor remembered her struggle with the decision to leave corporate work and write full-time. “Last year in June, although I had a lot of paranoia about freelancing, I decided to leave my job and write full-time, as a birthday present to myself.” How has it been, one year on? “If I had known it would be so exciting, I would’ve left a lot earlier,” she says, with the enthusiasm of someone who has immersed themselves into their truest passion.
In the face of great success, McIvor acknowledged that her most significant challenge has been to monetise her books by getting an agent and publisher while remaining true to herself and telling Caribbean stories with real authenticity. In an article published on lithub.com, she asserted that “Caribbean fiction doesn’t need to be altered for American audiences,” and that reviews from early readers and agents of her books “seemed designed to sand the rough edges off my country and to present a version of Trinidad that would cater to an international audience’s conception of the Caribbean rather than showing our contemporary realities.”
She described “authenticity as the hill I wanted to die on,” and refused to collaborate with agents who wanted to alter her real, lived Trinidadian experience that she transcribed into her short story collection and her novel. Her commitment to authenticity clearly paid off, and noted Caribbean book critic and reviewer Cindy Allman, known widely as Book of Cinz, said that McIvor scored big with her publisher of “Where There Are Monsters”, Peepal Tree Press, as “they really support Caribbean literature” and her publishers of “The God of Good Looks”, William Morrow/HarperCollins, in the US, and Fig Tree/Penguin Random House, both known as “part of the big five publishers.”
McIvor launched her new novel at the Bocas Lit Fest in Trinidad in May, perfectly timed ahead of “Read Caribbean Month” which was launched five years ago by Book of Cinz. As June is considered Caribbean Heritage Month, Allman thought it would be well aligned to celebrate Caribbean literature during this month. Allman described the concept of Read Caribbean month as “a space for Caribbean readers, ‘bookstagrammers’ and writers to get together and share their love for reading and writing the Caribbean.”
She said that Breanne McIvor “has done so much work to advance Caribbean literature, hosting panels and writing books that stay true to who she is and capture the spirit and heart of Trinidad and Tobago.” Both McIvor and Allman shine as investors in Caribbean culture, exporting our literary traditions worldwide, and believing that our indigenous stories are worthy of being told and celebrated by us and the global community. McIvor encouraged us to “hold on to your stories, although social media may make you feel small and insignificant. Your story is beautiful, and your perspective is powerful.”
A key part of her authenticity is that McIvor doesn’t shy away from offering social commentary, both positive and negative. In The God of Good Looks, she brings to light some subversive issues of the engrained patriarchal systems that still blame and oppress young women today, and can be near-impossible to overcome. Furthermore, she discusses in the novel the commodification of, and capitalisation on, female beauty, perpetuated in popular rhetoric by narrow beauty standards. She also explores the rigid and demoralising social class barriers that stymie and demoralise people, preventing them from reaching their full potential.
Breanne McIvor is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed author, whose writing has been described as “phenomenal”, “dazzling”, and “vibrant”. Driven by the purpose of “illuminating Trinidadian stories,” she has burst onto the international scene buoyed by critical acclaim for her excellent work. The God of Good Looks is available both in local bookstores and online.
Fayola K J Fraser is a professional in the international development arena. She has a BA in international (Middle Eastern) Studies and an MSc in International Relations & Diplomacy from the London School of Economics.
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